The "Arctic Vortex" that covered Canada and the continental United States in early January made it extremely difficult for commercial airline workers and passengers. Many were delayed hours and even days but everyone eventually got to their destinations safely.

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A MESSAGE FROM RICHARD R. KELLEY TO OUR OUTRIGGER ‘OHANA
January 11, 2014
Challenging, Freezing Days For Travel & Tourism
By Dr. Richard Kelley
(Credit: NOAA)
“Knuckle” of cold, polar air covers most of Canada and
the continental United States on January 6, 2014.
----------The graphic above produced by NOAA
(National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration) shows the freezing
Arctic air covering most of Canada and
the United States on January 6, 2014.
More than 7,741 flights were
canceled in the United States on
the previous day, Sunday, January 5,
according to TravelMole, reporting
data from Flightware.com, a website
that tracks air travel. Airport lobbies
were jammed. Lost and misdirected
luggage piled up. Many schedules
were disrupted, flights missed,
appointments postponed. A
Maryland-based aviation operations
firm, masFlight, estimates that over
8 million fliers have been directly
affected by canceled flights and
delays since January 2.
At our affiliate property, Hilton
Garden Inn Denver Airport, the
staff worked together to house and
feed as many stranded travelers
as possible, according to General
Manager Gian Gandolfo.
I think it is a wonderful testament
to the airline industry in the United
States and Canada that there were no
commercial airline crashes, injuries
or deaths during this very challenging
period. Sadly, there was a fatal
accident at Colorado’s Aspen Pitkin
County Airport on January 5, when
a privately owned Canadair CL-600
from Mexico was making a second
landing attempt. It went off the right
side of the runway, flipped over and
burst into flames, killing the co-pilot.
By contrast, during this past week
it was business as usual at Outrigger
properties across the Pacific. Our
staff at Outrigger’s Reservations
Center in Denver efficiently handled
changes in hotel bookings caused
by flight delays and cancellations.
That’s not to say that at our Pacific
properties we do not sometimes face
difficult weather conditions. I am just
pointing out that during this past week
in Hawai‘i, while there may have been
some snow and freezing temperatures
on top of Mauna Kea, 13,796 feet (4,205
meters) above sea level, at Waikīkī
Beach, the temperature was around 77
to 80 degrees F (25 to 27 C), making it
almost certainly the warmest place of
the 50 United States of America!
“Sandman” at Lanikai Beach & photo credit: Alissa Fa
For those traveling across the
northern hemisphere and, perhaps
even more so for those working in
Travel & Tourism in that half of the
globe, the past two weeks have been
very challenging. An unusually wide
“knuckle” of Arctic air has pushed
snow storms and extremely low
temperatures down across Canada
and the continental United States,
causing flight delays and cancellations
in almost unprecedented numbers. I
want to tip my hat and say thanks to all
the employees throughout the Travel
& Tourism industry who have worked
around the clock to keep the systems
running and safe.
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Wouldn’t you rather build a “sandman”
in Hawai‘i?
My thanks to all those in the
Travel & Tourism industry who
work so hard, particularly in times
like this past week in the U.S. and
Canada, to keep travelers as safe and
comfortable as possible in spite of
extremely challenging conditions.
Given the way the year seems to be
going, you might want to tell your
friends to make their Hawai‘i winter
reservations quickly before travelers
from places with names like Bangor,
Minneapolis, Yellow Knife and
Winnipeg have us fully booked for the
rest of the season.
Saturday Briefing
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